Conventionally, image forming apparatuses, such as page printers, facsimile machines, photocopy machines, MFPs and the like that form an image through an electrographic process have a configuration wherein if a jam occurs to a medium being carried while printing, the user opens a cover provided on the upper or front surface of the device and removes the jammed medium. Here, “MFP” is the abbreviation of a multifunction printer, which is a printer with additional functions of a facsimile machine, a scanner, a photocopy machine and the like. In addition, “printing” means an operation of forming an image on a medium.
Among the image forming apparatuses (especially image forming apparatuses having a configuration to perform double-sided printing by inverting the medium), there are devices having a configuration where a medium carrying unit that carries a medium is freely detachable. Such medium carrying unit has a handle member that is gripped by the user to enable the medium carrying unit to be easily removed from the image forming apparatus (see JP Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2007-101728, for example).
For example, JP Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2007-101728 discloses a transferring unit as the medium carrying unit. Here, “transferring unit” is a unit that transfers a developer image formed on the surface of a photosensitive drum provided inside an image forming apparatus onto a medium. The transferring unit includes a handle member provided to enable the medium carrying unit to be easily removed from the image forming apparatus. Moreover, the handle member projects from the casing of the transferring unit for easier grip and higher visibility.
However, in the medium carrying unit (hereafter called “conventional medium carrying unit”) disclosed in JP Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2007-101728, the handle member is provided to project from the casing of the medium carrying unit for higher visibility. Moreover, in the conventional medium carrying unit, the handle member needs to be provided in a manner that the handle unit does not touch the image forming unit installed above the medium carrying unit. For that reason there is a problem that the conventional medium carrying unit prevents miniaturization of the image forming apparatus.
The present application is made for solving the above-mentioned problem, and has an object to provide a medium carrying unit which includes a handle member for removing the medium carrying unit from an image forming apparatus and does not prevent miniaturization of the image forming apparatus while maintaining visibility and easy gripping of the handle member, and an image forming apparatus whose miniaturization is realized by using the medium carrying unit.